ESTATE OF AGNESS FLORENCE MARTIN

In an appeal concerning administration of the estate of Agnes Florence Martin, who died intestate at Buea in the Cameroons under British Mandate on 23 October 1934, the court affirmed a grant of Letters of Administration to her sister and next of kin. Two defendants had entered caveats, and the second defendant appealed, arguing the judgment was against the weight of evidence and contrary to native law and custom. He claimed entitlement to administer as the head of a house to which Martin’s father became attached, as an adopted son, and as a person appointed by the deceased to bury her and succeed to her property. WEBBER, C.J., Sierra Leone, held that the head-of-house claim was properly rejected and that the alleged adoption and burial appointment were not proved according to native law and custom, which must be established by positive evidence. KINGDON, C.J., Nigeria, and PETRIDES, C.J., Gold Coast, concurred, and the appeal was dismissed.